and wrist-cuff arrangement allowed me to move my hands about eighteen inches from my neck, and when Eric put a comically tiny mallet in my hand, arranged some pillows to look like a Rock Pile, and had the girls dressed as Overseers, swatting at me with willow switches, the picture was complete.

"Damn and Double-Damn!" Eric said suddenly.

"What's the problem?" I asked. I was in the process of removing my leg irons, getting ready to move from this set-up to the Twelfth and last one.

"Out of film!" ric fumed, "The story of my life! One shot left and The Great Eric West runs out of Film! Curses, foiled again!"

Despite my tiredness, my aching limbs, and my overwhelming desire to get this whole thing over with, now that I had solved the case, I couldn't help smiling at this likeable bungler's comic frustration. Even Miko and Ushi, despite the language barrier, giggled at his hair-pulling histrionics.

"Well Hell," He said at last, "It's Six-Thirty, I'm tired, you gals must be exhausted, and it'll take me more than an hour to get over to the Discount Store for film. Tell you what, Claire: I know I can depend on you to show up tomorrow, but how about these two? Can you

make them understand how important

it is for me to finish this thing tomorrow? Next month's rent is depending on it!"

I explained the whole thing to them in my clumsy French, putting in a few lines of my own promising them a bonus. I knew by now that completing this project was indeed quite important to Eric, both artistically and financially, and oddly enough, I had come to kind of like this strange little guy.

So I did everything I could to convince Ushi and Miko to meet us back here at the Studio at Ten the next morning, got dressed again (Oh, how good it felt to be decently covered once more, even if it was in women's attire, and rather cheap things at that!) and told Eric I'd meet him tomorrow.

Then I went straight to the nearest pay phone and called Jana.

"I've solved your case for you," I said when she answered, "Meet me at a bar called The Basket, in the Oregon Hill neighborhood. Make it for Eight O'Clock and bring about Twenty Thousand with you... in cash!"

"What do you mean?" Jana snapped, "You've found the pictures? You have them?"

"Just meet me at The Basket,"

I repeated, "And if you want to keep your Miss Earth title, you'll have